Well, the Count of Monte Cristo was pretty good. I saw it in an older theater so my butt was falling asleep most of the time, but otherwise it was pretty good. Not that my butt numbness should be blammed on a movie… unless of course it’s Lord of the Rings. Anyway, CoMC wasn’t half bad. Guy Pearce did a good job of playing both sides of the main character (strung-out prisoner and a noble count). I haven’t read the book so I’m afraid I can’t compair the film in any literary aspects. What I can say however is that the screenplay is very well paced and follows the Shakespearian “act” system and divides up the story nicely. There are distinctive “acts” and the transitions between them are done fairly well.
Example:
1. Normal guy enjoys life
2. Normal guy goes to jail, becomes crazy guy
3. Crazy guy gets out of jail
4. Crazy guy gets rich, plots revenge and becomes Count
5. Count’s plans for revenge revealed
Something like that. There’s a distinctive timeline in the story and they do a good job of making sure we can follow along. Another well done aspect of the film was the action. It wasn’t overdone and constant. Not that constant action is bad all the time, it worked for things like Mask of Zorro, but if this was shot in a similar way it would have ruined the story. Anyway, its not half bad. It’s a bit cheesy at times, there’s an occasional “modernization” of dialog, but it’s not “bad”. There’s action, drama, love, comdy, a bit with a dog, everything a movie needs. Ok, I made that part about the dog up, but still.
The Count of Monte Cristo – 7/10
Later.
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